Relating complex data

ABSTRACT

A data analysis and processing method includes forming an initial assembly of datasets comprising multiple entities, where each entity is a collection of variables and relationships that define how entities interact with each other, simulating an evolution of the initial assembly by performing multiple iterations in which a first iteration uses the initial assembly as a starting assembly, and querying, during the simulating, the evolution of the initial assembly, for datasets that meet an optimality criterion.

PRIORITY CLAIM

The present document is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser.No. 17/260,993, filed on Jan. 15, 2021, which is a 371 National PhaseApplication of International Application No. PCT/US2019//042058, filedon Jul. 16, 2019, which claims the benefit of priority of U.S.Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 62/698,723, entitled “RelatingComplex Data,” filed on Jul. 16, 2018. The entire contents of thisdocument are incorporated by references into the present document.

STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT

This invention was made with government support under grant IIP-1439664awarded by the National Science Foundation (NSF). The government hascertain rights in the invention.

TECHNICAL FIELD

This patent document relates to the fields of artificial intelligenceand database processing.

BACKGROUND

In the digital age, an ever increasing amount of digital data is beinggenerated by human activity, sensors, and computational process, and isbeing stored and analyzed by computers. Data capture and analysis isoften an important step in many advances in basic sciences, computertechnologies, financial industry, healthcare, and for solving manyreal-life problems.

SUMMARY

Disclosed are devices, systems and methods for analysis of complex data.

In one example aspect, a computer-implemented data processing method isdisclosed. The method includes forming an initial assembly of datasetsand algorithmic relationships by instantiating in a colony of assembliesthat have a range in variations of their dataset and algorithmicconditions, associating at least one contextual condition with thecolony, comparing individual assemblies in the colony against each otherand with the at least one contextual condition to find optimizationsprovided by the individual assemblies, simulating an evolution of theinitial assembly by performing multiple iterations in which a firstiteration uses the initial assembly as a starting assembly, andproviding, based on a query during the evolution of the initialassembly, datasets that meet an optimality criterion. The evolution issimulated by causing the starting assembly to evolve by having eachdataset in the starting assembly to (1) interact with other datasets inthe starting assembly using corresponding algorithmic relationships; or(2) change values of at least some datasets using a randomizationtechnique, culling, at an end of an n^(th) iteration, assemblies in thecolony that failed to meet a target objective function for the n^(th)iteration, and replacing, selectively based on finality of the multipleiterations, the starting assembly to include remaining datasets andalgorithmic relationships after the culling.

In another example aspect, a computer-implemented data processing methodincludes forming an initial assembly simulating an evolution of theinitial assembly by performing multiple iterations in which a firstiteration uses the initial assembly as a starting assembly, andquerying, during the simulating, the evolution of the initial assembly,for datasets that meet an optimality criterion. The simulation includescausing the starting assembly to evolve by having the multiple entitiesin the starting assembly (1) interact with other entities in thestarting assembly using the relationships; or (2) change values ofvariables using a randomization technique, culling, at an end of aniteration; a number of multiple entities that fail to meet a targetobjective function for that iteration, and replacing, selectively basedon finality of the multiple iteration, the starting to include remainingentities after the culling.

In another aspect, a computer system that includes one or more computingplatforms may be configured to implement the above-described method.

In yet another aspect, the above-described method may be embodied in theform of computer-executable code and stored on a storage medium.

In yet another aspect, a visualization method for displaying ongoingprogress of the simulations is disclosed.

Various embodiments may preferably implement the following features withrespect to the methods described above.

Preferably, at least one of the multiple entities includes a collectionof entities.

Preferably, the comparing is used to find particular optimizationsprovided by individual assemblies.

Preferably, a different target objective function is used for at leastsome iterations.

Preferably, the target objective function includes an energy function.

Preferably, the target objective function includes a uniquenessfunction.

Preferably, a different target objective function is used for at leastsome iterations.

Preferably, the operation of causing the starting assembly to evolvefurther includes creating new entities as a result of interactionbetween two of the multiple entities.

Preferably, at least some entities in the initial assembly correspond toa real-world attribute and wherein the forming the initial assembly ofdatasets includes forming the at least some entities by including fieldsof a database based associated with the real-world attribute.

Preferably, dataset matching is used for creating new entities.

Preferably, dataset assemblies may interact based on meeting acompatibility criterion.

Preferably, culling may be performed using deviation from a template asa criterion.

These, and other, features and aspects are further disclosed in thepresent document.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an example of a program execution environment.

FIG. 2 is an example implementation of an Assembly behavioral platformof symbiotic computational systems.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a hardware platform for implementingtechniques described in the present document.

FIG. 4 shows an example system in which free-form floating point valuesare used for various computer data structures.

FIG. 5 shows examples of rigid grid structures and free-form structureswhile using integer representation for values used in various computerdata structures.

FIG. 6 is a pictorial depiction of the idea of performing calculationsusing a simpler calculation of structures.

FIG. 7 shows an example visualization of intermediate results ofcomputations in the program execution environment.

FIG. 8 is a pictorial depiction of an example of mutation of Assembly.

FIG. 9 is a pictorial demonstration of an example of influence ofenvironmental factors on calculations.

FIG. 10 shows an example process of optimization of the computingsystem.

FIG. 11 shows an example of asymmetrical cross-platform implementation.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart of an example method of complex data analysis.

FIG. 13 shows a flowchart of another example method of complex dataanalysis.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In the recent years, practically every aspect of human life, and ourunderstanding of all things, is being captured and stored as computerdata. Examples of things that can be modeled or stored in the form ofcomputer data include global weather patterns, interstellar data,natural ecosystems, financial data, and so on. New data is created,stored and analyzed in sports, finance, healthcare field, arts, lawenforcement, e-commerce, science, news reporting, and so on. As theamount of data keeps growing, new computers are continually beingdeveloped to help with storage and analysis of this ever-growing amountof information.

For example, a law enforcement officer or a stock broker or a medicalpractitioner or a sports manager or a scientist may have a large amountof data at his fingertips and may be able to use today's tools thatallow the user to sift through the data and retrieve useful data.However, one limitation such tools have is that the user will be able toretrieve only what he is looking for. The existing tools are inadequatein searching for patterns by learning correlations among data. Forexample, many modern databases today are very large, with easily upwardsof 100s of millions of data entries. While simple query and searchtechniques or relational searches of databases is possible with manycurrent tools, such tools do not provide additional insight into thedatabase by having a computer learn similarities or differences amongvarious data entries.

The present document discloses techniques that can be embodied intosystems for complex data analysis. One way of looking at someembodiments is by using the metaphors of an evolving, multi-levelartificial life environment to derive novel, optimized relationshipsbetween data and algorithmic functions. Some embodiments may include asynthetic system of encoding characteristics, and a set of rules akin tothe chemistry and physics of an environment, provide the basis forcreating increasingly complex emergent behavior.

In some disclosed embodiments, a collaborative agency is created betweenthe impulses of the algorithmic systems and the means of theirunderstanding through interaction and experimentation.

Some embodiments described in the present document relate toexperimenting with the potential for emergent ‘intelligence’ through theassemblage and interactions of simple components.

Some embodiments disclosed in the present document relate to developingincreasingly more complex systems of interactions, mimicking neuralnetworks.

Some embodiments described in the present document relate to creating amulti-user gameplay experience that pushes the envelope of ‘standard’multiplayer gaming through procedural and evolution-based generativegameplay.

Some embodiments implement methods for optimizing data and algorithmicrelationships. For example, a method may include the ability to isolatedifferent aspects of a colony of assemblies, which may be, for example,data grouping as described in the present document, based on specifyingcriteria for selecting one or more assemblies from the colony. Thesesegregated assemblies can then be placed into contextual conditions thatare any subset of the original contextual environmental conditions,including all aspects of the original, or subset aspects. In someembodiments, the subset of assemblies and the subset of theenvironmental context is run in the evolutionary scheme as a separatecomputational process and may be run on distinct hardware or on parallelthreads of the same hardware as the original program. At any time duringthe implementation, assemblies that have developed on these alternativethreads can be reintroduced back into the main computational system.Some embodiments may then check if more narrowly specified optimizationswill provide value into the overall robustness of the colony behavior orbe of higher optimality than colony members that have evolved in thelarger environmental conditions.

An example of how the above-described techniques might work inrelationship to the automobile design optimization is described next. Adata analysis system may determine that a user of this system wants todesign a car that is optimized for one aspect of its function such astraction. The system could evaluate designs that have emerged throughthe execution that might have a range of characteristics that the systemmay consider to be a good overall balance (acceleration, braking, cargocapacity, fuel efficiency, environmental impact, etc.). The system couldselect one or more of these candidates that have been evolved in thesystem that have responded to a very large number of contextualconditions and have out-competed with each other for particular successsuch as consumer desirability. The user could select candidates andcreate a limited fitness test for a characteristic such as “traction.”The user may also create an environmental context in which tractionconditions are the only consequential variance. The design evolutionprocess could then vary such parameters as tire width, tire compounds,suspension system, number of wheels, aerodynamic effects, weightdistribution, turning radius, center of gravity, etc. When thevariations of these characteristics have reached some level ofoptimization, the successful candidate(s) can then be reintroduced intothe larger set of contextual conditions with its broader or completerange of characteristics available to the evolutionary process.

Another example of the data analysis techniques can also be illustratedin the field of healthcare. An implementation may look for optimizedrelationships of hundreds of human behavior and physiologicalmeasurement by culling results from large scale health studies. Theimplementation can build a model of individuals that consist ofcomponents that have been measured, and then evolve these individualswith appropriate variances in individual traits to determine how theymay affect health against the contextual conditions of the aggregatedstudy data. Implementations can take individual simulated individuals orindividual real world patients into their own process, and runindependent evolutionary processes to see what kinds of behavioral,environmental and/or biometric changes would do to the overall healthoutcomes. These can be with the full context of the aggregate studies intotal or on any subset of them.

Additional details and embodiments are now discussed for the complexdata analysis techniques introduced above.

Brief System Overview

FIG. 1 depicts an example of a program execution environment 100. Theenvironment 100 may be implemented using a single computer platform orusing distributed computers such as a cloud computing network. Theenvironment 100 may be constructed to solve a problem 102. Depending onthe problem 102, entries of one or more databases 104 may be used duringthe implementation and simulations performed in the environment 100.Various examples of the problems 102 and formation of environments 100are described throughout the present document.

The environment 100 may include a number of assemblies 106, some ofwhich may be grouped together into corresponding amalgams 108. Thus, anamalgam 108 may include a number of assemblies 106. When solving acomplex problem with multiple relationships among various databaseentries and their interplay with the desired solutions, a singleenvironment 100 may include up to 10,000 (or more) assemblies, asfurther described in the present document.

Furthermore, while FIG. 1 does not explicitly depict a colony, this termcould refer to a collection of assemblies, separate from theirenvironment. For example, a colony together with its context(s) would bean amalgam. A colony of amalgams could be considered to be anenvironment. Thus, complex datasets may be organized in recursivestructures with corresponding associated behavior attributes, asdisclosed in the present document.

Examples of Assembly Schemes

FIG. 2 pictorially depicts an example implementation of an Assemblyscheme 106. In an Assembly scheme 106, data and algorithms may betreated as traits and behaviors for artificial life organisms and existin an environment that filters and selects the best performingvariations between their possible states. Entities consist of manypieces of data in many algorithmic relationships between. Variations inthe data and their algorithmic relationships are created throughmultiple methods, such as random changes (mutations) and inheritedcombinations from multiple parents (reproduction). Entities exist withina context of conditions which tests their overall robustness. Theseenvironmental conditions can be set to allow for a variety of testingscenarios for allowing entities to continue to exist and evolve ascandidate solutions. High performing entities persist, while lowperforming solutions are culled. Over time, highly optimal solutions arecreated and can exhibit novelty in the relationships between data andalgorithms that would be unlikely for a human designer to determine. Thescale of data sets and any algorithmic relationships that they areinvolved in is theoretically without limits. However, we have focused onoptimizing this process for data sets with up to 1000's ofcharacteristics clustered in a variety of ways.

The Assembly system 106 works well with data that have morphologicaldependencies. An example of which would can be found in a describing thecomponents of an automobile racing around a track whose time anddistance traveled will be determined by the interrelationship betweenvehicle size and weight, engine power, aerodynamics, energy consumption,braking distance, tire composition, and many other factors, with eachhaving their own subsets of details and variables. Additionally,different environmental conditions including such things as track shape,road surface and weather might favor different optimal solutions. Aninitial simulation model is created in which the overall problem issegmented into sub-systems which have specified relationships to othersub-systems and/or to the system defined at a particular scale ofoperation. In the example of the race-car, a tire would be a reasonablesubsystem—with its variables of dimensions, compounds, tread type,inflation level. Some of those characteristics could have multiplecharacteristics, while others may only have a single value. The tireentity would be able to physically connect to other aspects of ameta-entity at a point and the characteristics of the connection wouldalso be subject to variation and evolution. The sports car problem wouldcontinue to be broken down into a set of subsystems in this way. Thelevel of detail of subsystems can be very deep, and can have nestedentities. In this analogy, the environment of the track would also bespecified with traits such as length, surface, weather, regularity, fuelavailability, race conditions (time and/or length limits). The start ofa simulation would be the random production of many possible variablesat all states. An initial fitness function can be applied, in this case,it can be if the entity is able to produce an motion, with failuresculled, and survivors producing a generation of offspring with randommutations—the number of offspring can vary and can be dependent on howwell one does on the fitness function, perhaps in this case the one whowas able to travel furthest produces a dozen (or a million) mutantoffspring, with mutations rates that vary from very small amounts tolarge amounts (i.e. 0.01% to 10% of traits) in both the number and rangeof change possible in the traits. A fitness test can be applied again,in this case characterized by whether an entity makes it to a certainsignpost. Those that do are able to reproduce; those that don't by acertain time are culled. The larger scale environmental condition isthat of compute resource, computing the ongoing variations of solutionsthat aren't likely to produce viable solutions is a waste of theresource which should be applied to the most promising of solutions.However, keeping different approaches in play can lead to optimalsolutions later on in the simulation as advantageous mutations come into play at later stages. The nature of the condition being addressed candetermine if an aggressive or passive culling strategy might make moresense, and in fact this approach itself can be subjected to the sameevolutionary computing methodology as a higher level nesting of theunderlying simulation.

The environmental interactions can also be aspects of the simulation.For instance, there may be certain kinds of resources that the entitiesvie for. In this case, a fuel resource can have limitations, after goinga certain distance (and in a particular direction) the entity could findthemselves taking on fuel. The amount they take on could have multipleimplications, too much adds to the weight, too little and they entitymight not have enough energy to continue. Fuel could also be located ona track with many paths, and an entity might have a guidance system withvarious traits that may or may not help guide it to the properdirection. Up to this point, we have described how entities reproduce bymaking copies of themselves with mutations as a way of evolving. We canalso use the concept of poly-parenting, where two or more entities canparent an offspring, with the specifics of traits having variance of howthey express themselves such as dominant and recessive values or blendsof parent traits with blend ratios as another trait.

The entities can also be nested within other entities and have multiplenested entities embedded within them. These nested levels can havesymbiotic relationships with each other that can provide for a moreefficient approach to generating many potential candidate solutions.Using our example condition, a race car produces exhaust that isproportional to its speed and distance travelled. Having fast cars thattravel many paths might be a good way for many cars to utilize all ofthe available fuel, but they will produce a lot of exhaust. Outside ofthe cars specific functionality, we can account for the way in which thefuel is produced: a solar powered distillery whose output falls as smoglevels rise. The car entities might also have a combustion sub-systemthat has variations in rate of fuel usage, power output and smog output,and further relationships to engine characteristics such as oxygenutilization (which can also be impacted by smog output), time tocombustion, compression ratios, and other conditions which impact thesize and weight of engine design. All of these characteristics can havemultiple levels of abstraction and interdependency which can focus theproblem solving simulation at desired scale. General models can be builtwith aspects of them set to specific variables or with limited variance,while other parts of simulation are run through the evolutionarycomputation simulation.

Examples of Complex Relations Among Data

These types of a variances and morphological relationships can be foundin many complex data systems. Another example can be seen with humanhealth data from large scale studies. Understanding how the many factorsof human behavior, individual characteristics, diseases and treatmentslead to patient outcomes is a daunting problem. Fortunately there isincreasing data that begins to mark correlations between them. But thisdata has many hundreds or thousands of dimensions to it. For anindividual patient, it isn't possible for them and their doctors tounderstand which changes might produce better outcomes. We can apply ourmultiscale, environmental evolutionary approach to this dilemma. We cangroup different components of fitness into subsystems in a variety ofways, and look at how traits, some of which may exist in more than onesubsystem, can lead to a holistic assessment of outcomes. For instance,we have extensive datasets that track people's lifestyle, family diseaserates, and medical conditions with particular focus, such as heartdisease, cancer, pulmonary disease, cognitive and neurological functionand fitness. Large scale studies in each of these areas have all beendone with different methodologies and produced results in a variety offormats, but in general they all have looked at many lifestyle traitssuch as: age, weight, height, sex, diet, medicine, supplements, heartrates, blood pressure, blood panels, sleep patterns, etc.. Some studieshave tracked hundreds of traits over tens of thousands of people overseveral decades. Others have tracked fewer variables over larger numbersof people over shorter times. Within each of these existing studies itis very difficult to utilize current analytical methods to determinewhat lifestyle one should pursue to produce optimal health outcomes.Should I take an aspirin a day or not? Does the amount of exercise thatI do matter, or the amount of coffee that I drink, or the amount of timeI spend watching TV? Will the aspirin improve my heart health butpossibly increase my colo-rectal cancer risk?

In our evolutionary computing system, we can create a model of anindividual's characteristics, to the extent that it known, and which canbe continuously updated for both improving completeness and to includecontemporaneous conditions. This model can be used as the basis for thecreation of colonies of entities that can evolve variations that can becompared to outcomes derived from the datasets of these large scalestudies as the multi-variant fitness conditions. The overall system canlook at interrelationships between the various studies, and normalizethe individual traits so that they can be compared across the board. Itmight show that optimizations for outcomes in one area mightdramatically imperil one in another area.

Economics are another area that could be used with this methodology.Modeling the variations in micro and macro-economic conditions couldhelp see possible consequences and solutions to policy or investmentdecisions. For instance, putting tariffs on a particular importedmaterial might help boost a specific part of the economy, but it mightalso cause other parts of the economy to suffer. Many differentindustrial sectors can be modeled, each of which would have a variety oftraits based on the price of production (materials, labor, energy,shipping, taxation) and income (prices, effort required, market size,competition). Data can be drawn from measured starting points andentities would be in many symbiotic interrelationships with each other,the characterization of which would also change over time.

Example Hardware Platforms

FIG. 3 shows an example hardware platform 300. One or more suchplatforms 300 may be used to implement the environment 100 describedherein. In various embodiments, the platforms 300 may for a distributedcomputing system or may correspond to computing sources located in acomputing cloud. The disclosed environment 100 is scalable forimplementation on a single platform 300 that could be a mobile phone, alaptop or a workstation.

The platform 300 may include one or more processors 302. The processors302 may be configured to execute code. The platform 300 may include oneor more memories 304 for storage of code, data and intermediate resultsof execution. The platform 300 may include one or more interfaces 306for data input or output. For example, the interfaces 306 may be anetwork connection such as a wired Ethernet or wireless Wi-Fi connectionor may be communication ports such as USB, and the like. Varioustechniques described in the document may be implemented in a cloud basedcomputing system where multiple hardware platform 300 may be present.

An Example of Simulation Environment

A simulation of this example system has been created to show how variousdata conditions can produce high performing outcomes. This simulationcreates a multi-level environment with 3 levels of embedded systems. Thelevel of embeddedness has no upper of lower limits. In this case we willname these levels the Assembly, the Amalgam, and the Environment. TheAssemblies will be described in the most detail. They are artificiallife entities, specified by a genetic code. This code specifies thenumber of nodes in an assembly and the ways in which nodes are arrangedand connected to one another, and based on the location in theconnection pattern, the function of each node. There are many Assembliesin an Amalgam. There is a symbiotic relationship between the colony ofassemblies and the vitality of the amalgam. Amalgams capture energy fromthe environment that they are in, yet they can't utilize the energyuntil it has been metabolized by the Assemblies. Assemblies attempt tomove through the amalgam to capture this energy, utilize it, and emitmetabolites that the amalgam uses for its vitality.

Examples of Culling and Fitness Checking

Fitness checking and culling can take place at any of the hierarchytiers. The fitness tests can have multiple factors and can be adjustedto allow for wider or narrower range of outcomes to pass. For instance,a fitness function of metabolic state might be used to cull Assembliesfrom the environment—if they are unable to add energy at a rate thatmatches or exceeds their utilization, they will cease to exist, andtheir particular configuration of data relations will not be a part ofthe overall set of possible data relationships going forward. If thefitness tests are applied at a higher level, such as the Amalgam level,a whole colony of underlying data relationships will be culled from thesystem. Other tests can that could be used would include the need todevelop an excess of energy to allow an Assembly to combine with anotherone to produce offspring; Assemblies who are unable to produce offspringwould leave the genepool. The data analysis system can run for anindefinite period, however we have found that over time, colonies willtend to reach a relative stasis of combinatorial possibilities,sometimes with more than one prevalent strain of data relationsco-existing. These would then be good candidates to extract and examinethe specifics of the data relationships to use as an aid to decisionmaking processes.

Example Visualizations

Various figures provide examples of visual depictions of how the resultsobtained during the data analysis and evolution or relationships amongAssemblies. One visualization technique may depict visual pictureanalogous to the development of various life forms in a colony throughinteractions, mutations and eliminations.

Table 1 shows an example of an amalgam format in which variousAssemblies are defined with a simplified representation of the data usedor processed and inputs and outputs to the Assemblies.

TABLE 1 Example Amalgam format Data Input Output Energy for Energy intoAmalgam Produce metabolites Assemblies for Assemblies from forEnvironment amount Environment distribution Metabolites for FromAssemblies Amalgam vitality Hydrostatic From Assemblies Size of Amalgampressure morphology, location Motion of Amalgam in and activityEnvironment Together, allow it to bring energy into Amalgam forAssemblies

Table 2 provides an example of Assembly format in which varioussub-system of an Assembly mimic functionality of a simple lifeform andthe corresponding data and input/outputs are used as functions thatchange the behavior and characteristics of an Assembly.

TABLE 2 Example Assembly format Sub- System Data Input Output Crossproduct of From Muscle system Move Assembly motion from From Environmentmuscle nodes conditions Mating From Metabolism To Vision system to setmating flag Hydrostatic Field From Assembly To Amalgam Shell MorphologyMorphology number of subsystem nodes Connectnome of nodes angles orderRules for expressing subsystems Metabolites To Amalgam % of metabolismutilization Metabolism Energy Utilization From all subsystems To Allsubsystems Rest Rate Active Rate Vision Width From Environment Tocognition node Depth From other entities To metabolism Energy Use Frommetabolism Energy Gain Energy Seen intensity degree off axis Mateintensity degree off-axis Cognition Various vision From Vision To musclenodes nodes are weighted From Metabolism To metabolism in summing to 1Weighting is modulated over time Modulate output signal strengthModulate output signal targets Motion Energy available From metabolismForce and Utilization From cognition direction efficiency to AssemblyImpulse frequency Impulse intensity

Example Features and Platforms

FIG. 4 shows an example system 400 in which free-form floating pointvalues are used for various computer data structures. The system 400 maybe analogized as an arrangement of interlocked gears whose movement, orcomputing progression, may be controlled separately, yet may be able toinfluence each other's movement (progression). For example, three“gears” or “subsystems” include a simulation of a three-dimensionalpoint cloud physics model with each point within the cloud operating ata position and a velocity. The points may be connected to drive randomnode connections and neighbor selection based on their position/velocityvalues. The resulting computations may interact with free-floating nodepositions.

One of the big challenges in performing a meaningful analysis of complexdata and making it useful to solving a certain problem is being able tovisually present to a human user in a meaningful manner. In systemswhere data has tens or hundreds of attributes and may be analyzed forunderlying complex relationship, the traditional database displaytechniques such as spreadsheets, filtered results and multi-dimensionalgraphs are inadequate because these techniques may visually overload theamount of information presented making it harder to notice. FIG. 4 showsan example of interactions between various components of the dataanalysis system as a number of interlocked gears to highlight theinteraction between different node connections and positions. In oneexample aspect, these interactions may be advantageously use to displaythe results of ongoing simulations as “life forms” that evolve over theduration of simulation, interacting with each other, forming colonies,reproducing or detaching, mutating, and so on. Additional details of thevarious aspects of data analysis and visualization are also describedwith reference to FIGS. 5 to 11 , as described next.

FIG. 5 shows examples of rigid grid structures and free-form structureswhile using integer representation for values used in various computerdata structures. The structure on the left shows a solid closest-packingprism that represents a rigid (e.g., defined by connectivity toneighbors) integer based scheme of assembly structure. In this scheme,each point is represented with three integer numbers and each point orvertex of the grid differs from its neighbors in one attribute value.Compared to such a rigid structure, the one on right shows a computingplatform in which the computations vertices are allowed to have afreedom to form and some of the resulting points are considered to be apart of the structure. The visual representation of the calculations onthe right thus shows a scheme in which simulation results may take onmany different values (not just along a rigid structure), and facilitateevolution of the simulation in a distributed manner. As visuallydepicted in FIG. 5 , in one advantageous aspect, the display of datasets on the right is visually efficient and intuitive. In particular,data elements are spatially addressed and provide a visual status of thecondition or evolution of data simulations.

FIG. 6 is a pictorial depiction of the idea of performing calculationsusing a simpler calculation of structures. FIG. 6 visually illustratesthe operation of “random crawl” benchmarking examples of the closestpacking grid system. Similar to FIG. 5 , the visual depiction of FIG. 6identifies structures and a human user can visually track the evolutionof the structures (e.g., Assemblies) as the simulation progresses.

FIG. 7 shows an example visualization of intermediate results ofcomputations in the program execution environment. In this example, eachAssembly is constructed using a rigid closest packing grid system,displaying the organic aesthetic of the system that is otherwiseEuclidean in its construction. The example in FIG. 7 shows how resultsof simulations can be visually depicted as living organisms or cells(e.g., the polyhedrons), with its corresponding connections to otherdata structures and evolution through the progression of data analysis.

FIG. 8 is a pictorial depiction of an example of mutation of Assembly.In some example embodiments, a coefficient may be applied acrossvariables of multiple types. This operation is difficult to balance andaccordingly variables are evaluated on a maximum change scale, relativeto their current values. The three stages of computations (from left toright) are shown to undergo a mutation in which the Assembly begins as adocile structure, then develops a movement strategy that was effective,and eventually hones the strategy in a highly efficient targeted system.As depicted in FIG. 8 , a single entity (a collection of multiple cubes,each having a different visual identity or gray-scale representation todistinguish its identity from others), may evolve into a more complexentity (middle) and develop relationships among various components,including using mutation process, gradually resulting in the entity onthe right. This may be called “0.05” mutation based on the operationalparameter designed to create changes from one iteration to next, e.g.,as disclosed in the present document.

FIG. 9 is a pictorial demonstration of an example of influence ofenvironmental factors on calculations. Some embodiments disclosed hereinmay use the concept of evolution as understood in the biological worldboth for performing complex data analysis and for providing a visualdisplay of intermedia results during the complex data analysis. Forexample, a real-world problem may be posed as a biological problem.Analogous to the evolution of biological life where the governing lawsinclude laws of nature such as conservation of energy, and biologicallife is limited and defined by its own metabolic activity, and growthand changes to biological life forms are influenced by environmentalfactors such as food supply, competition with other biological lifeforms, hazardous conditions, and so on, evolution of data objects may besimulated into a similar framework to solve problems. In such asframework, as described throughout this document, real life problems maybe posed as data characteristics or relationships or correlations, andthe corresponding starting data set may be allowed to evolve using the“rules of nature,” “rules of life (e.g., metabolism)” and “rules ofenvironment” that define the complex relationship among various dataobjects and the interactions among them.

FIG. 10 shows an example process of optimization of the computing systemthat is operating as a data analysis system. FIG. 10 shows an engineoptimized to run on 10,000+ individual network nodes. A simulation ofcomplex data may have to be optimized to keep the computationalcomplexity in control and real-time. One such method may include the useof an octrees, as depicted in FIG. 10 . For example, the universe of alldata sets undergoing evolution at a given time may be divided into eightoctants (any number, in general). From the division, a smaller set ofentities or data objects that have possibility of effectively affectingthe final outcome may be selected for retention and the remaining dataentities may be “let go” or eliminated. A metric such as distance ofneighbors may be used for this culling. For example, distances may becompared to a threshold and data entities having a distance longer thanthe threshold may be de-emphasized or eliminated. A similar strategy maybe used for both culling of data objects and also culling ofcomputational nodes that are implementing the evolution of data objects.

As depicted in FIG. 10 , internodal physics interactions operate on a‘neighbor-based’ system. Each node has baked references to itsneighbors, and then attempts to ‘pull’ itself to the target positionrelative to the neighbor. The neighbor also performs the same operation.Once all nodes have run their calculations, positions and velocities areupdated for that frame.

For example, in some embodiments, nodes may implement the followinglogic to try to align their ‘resting position’ with their neighbors.

curNeighborNode.delayPosition-=vecToNeighborTargetPos*lerpStep/neighbors.Count;

curNeighborNode.delayRotation=Quaternion.Ler(delayRotation,curNeighborNode.rotation, lerpStep).

Here the variables suffixed Position and Rotation may represent positionand rotational angle in a 3D space of the node with respect to acoordinate axis. For example, a convenient 3D reference axis system maybe from viewpoint of a user of the simulation system. Furthermore, theposition may be adjusted using a vector to a neighboring target positionin steps of lerpStep variable, which is scaled by a count of number ofneighboring nodes. For example, when number of neighboring nodes islarge, e.g., when a given node is in a crowd, then the positionadjustment may correspondingly scaled down or slowed down. Thismathematical property may thus facilitate stable conversion ofsimulations. The second equation above describes rotational movement ofnodes in a quaternion coordinate system (four-dimensional complex numbersystem) in which rotation is achieved based on a relationship withneighboring node rotation after a certain delay. For example, thismathematical relationship allows neighboring datasets to be influencedby each other's changes after passage of certain amount of delay (e.g.,number of iterations). Each “dot” in FIG. 4 or solid geometries such ascircular nodes or cubes in FIGS. 5 to 11 may represent an entity, or acollection of data sets and relationships.

In some embodiments, closest-packing grid system may be used as thedeterministic method for saving/restoring/mutating assembly structure,but the ‘lattice’ is no longer rigid. New nodal physics engine may pullfrom soft body physics engine fundamentals to allow for flowing, organicstructures that can simulate organic tissue and muscle.

For simulation, and for visually displaying results, motion is achievedby the product of muscle contraction vs. resultant muscle displacementand the frequency of these contractions. Differences in resultantmotions is observable in the simulation.

FIG. 11 shows an example of asymmetrical cross-platform implementation.Starting from top left, an environment of various Assemblies may berandomly seeded with starting data entities. As the environment churns(evolves), some of the evolved assemblies may be transferred to anothercomputational platform that was previously not a part of the simulationframework. This receiving computational platform may be, for example, ahandheld device such as a tablet or a smartphone. The simulation maycontinue on this device in isolation from the simulation running on thestarting data objects. During the simulation on the handheld device,simulation may progress using slightly different parameters for certainenvironmental factors (e.g., power consumption). At some future time,the results of the handheld device simulation may be reintroduced backto the original or the principal simulation environment.

With environmental conditions reintroduced, the simulation returns tothe ‘soup’ simulation previously run with the rigid assemblies, but nowwith higher performance as well as more interesting physics-basedassembly behaviors.

Examples of Reproduction

While the environment is seeded with randomly-generated uniqueassemblies, two assemblies with high enough internal energies mayattempt to reproduce sexually. The offspring will contain structural andnodal information based on a random inheritance from both parents, plusa small amount of random mutation.

Examples of Increased Complexity

The highest-level stage of the environment, ‘Utopia’, serves to bringthe concepts and machinations of the earlier stages into a socialcontext. The user operates a humanoid form with some form of grossinteraction with the environment, which has grown out of (and builtupon) the processes that generated the first and second levels.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart representation of an example method 1200 of dataprocessing and analysis. The method 1200 may be implemented by a dataanalysis system described in the present application, e.g., using thehardware platform described with respect to FIG. 3 .

The method 1200 includes, at 1202, forming an initial assembly ofdatasets comprising multiple entities, where each entity is a collectionof variables and relationships that define how entities interact witheach other.

The method 1200 includes, at 1204, simulating an evolution of theinitial assembly by performing multiple iterations in which a firstiteration uses the initial assembly as a starting assembly. Thesimulation of the evolution in operation 1204 may include a firstoperation of causing the starting assembly to evolve by having themultiple entities in the starting assembly (1) interact with otherentities in the starting assembly using the relationships; or (2) changevalues of variables using a randomization technique, a second operationof culling, at an end of an iteration, a number of multiple entitiesthat fail to meet a target objective function for that iteration, and athird operation of replacing, selectively based on finality of themultiple iteration, the starting to include remaining entities after theculling.

The method 1200 includes, at 1206, querying, during the simulating, theevolution of the initial assembly, for datasets that meet an optimalitycriterion.

The method 1200 may further be used to model dependencies betweendifferent parts or sub-systems. Dependencies may be defined betweendifferent sub-systems that becomes “genes” of the corresponding assemblyentities. Interactions among the multiple genes becomes behavior of theassembly. In some implementations, a real-life problem for datasimulation and analysis may be mapped to its corresponding assemblies,which may serve as a starting point for a simulation of behavior of thesystem.

During the simulating, the evolution of the initial assembly may bedetermined using a fitness function and by reading out characteristicsof the assembly at a given time. In principal, the simulation may nothave a well-defined end criterion. For real world simulations, theresults of the querying may be used to end the simulation as it mayproduce an answer of interest.

In some embodiments, an entity may itself represent a collection ofother entities (e.g., a human body is a collection of multiple organs,which are a collection of multiple cells, and so on.)

In some embodiments, different target objective functions may be usedfor different iterations. In some implementations, an objective functionmay be based on same parameters, but have different values in differentiteration. For example, entity dimension may be used as the objectivefunction criteria and the threshold of dimension may change from oneiteration to next. Alternatively, or in addition, different iterationsmay use different parameters for the objective function. For example,entity dimension may be used in one iteration, while entity weight maybe used in the objective function for another iteration. In some cases,the objective function may use a combination of multiple entityparameters.

As further described in the present document, entities may be able tocreate (give birth to) new entities as a result of interactions betweenthem. For example, starting from a patient birth year entity and apatient weight entity, when simulation reaches a stage where acorrelation between a specific weight and birth year reaches asignificant number, a new entity may be created that corresponds to“obese teenagers.” This new entity may be defined with its own datastructures and functions (e.g., increased sensitivity to sugar intake).

In some embodiments, new entities may be created through a datasetmating process. This process may occur when assemblies have a surfeit ofenergy reserves, and they are able to turn some of their activity towardthe search for an appropriate mate in addition to their search forenergy input. The energy may represent a trait determined through theirgenetic codex and a condition that is met by their metabolic activityand environmental interactions. When two (or more) assemblies find matesof interest, they are able to create new entities-offspring-which have amix of traits from each parent. The mix itself may be something that hasevolutionary variation as with all other traits of the assembly. Themixing may involve mathematical techniques such as linear weighting,non-linear weighting or randomization. In some cases, it may be possibleto automatically generate new entities from more than two parententities. For example, during the process of dataset mating, one parententity may find more than one other entities suitable for the creationof a new entity. Depending on a trait of this parent entity, e.g.,whether or not this parent entity can generate new entities by matingwith multiple other entities, the above-described techniques may be usedto create new entities with multiple parents. One advantage aspect ofsuch a multi-parent data analysis technique is that by controlling thenumber of parents that can lead to new offspring entities, the amount orrange of variations in datasets from one generation to next, or oneiteration to next, can be controlled.

For example, in some embodiments, the characteristics of parent entitiesA and B (or additional parents, if any)-which include specific datavalues as well as the specifications of algorithmic methods areinherited by the new entities—C, D, E, etc. The total number of newentities created may be a variable that can be set with upper and lowerlimits and with a control over the possibilities of a number ofoffspring being created such as a fixed number, a random number, arandom number that has a probabilistic outcome. The expression ofspecific traits from either parent can have a variety of possibilities,these possibilities themselves are an inheritable and mutable trait. Oneparent's version or dataset can be directly copied to one of theoffspring, some mixture of traits can occur that combines aspects ofparents' traits and the weighting of that combination is itself aninheritable characteristic, and any of this can be subject to amutation, where whichever method is being used, the outcome could have arandomization factor applied to it. The randomization factor may beexternal to the genetic code, and may be set by the human operating thesystem and it can be set to have its own distribution over the system,such as the same mutation factor applied to entire colony, or a varyingmutation factor applied to each member of the colony, or a mutationfactor that has a particular variance rate over different generations ofthe colony. For example, a mutation rate of 10% of genes mutating with10% variation of data traits in the initial generation may be specifiedand each succeeding generation the mutation rate goes down by 1%. Thesemutation rates can also be limited to specific areas of the geneticcode, as determined by the operator of the simulation system.

In some embodiments, at least some entities in the initial assemblycorrespond to a real-world attribute and wherein the forming the initialassembly of datasets includes forming the at least some entities byincluding fields of a database based associated with the real-worldattribute. Various examples of real-world problems are described in thepresent document for illustration, and other applications may also bepossible.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart of another example method 1300 for analyzingcomplex data. In some embodiments, the method 1300 includes forming aninitial assembly of datasets and algorithmic relationships byinstantiating in a colony of assemblies that have a range in variationsof their dataset and algorithmic conditions. The method 1300 may beimplemented by a data analysis system using a hardware platform such asdescribed with respect to FIG. 3 .

In some embodiments, the method 1300 includes associating at least onecontextual condition with the colony. For example, the contextualcondition associated with the colony may be set up to have the data setsget into a competition during the simulation.

In some embodiments, the method 1300 includes comparing individualassemblies in the colony against each other and with the at least onecontextual condition to find optimizations provided by the individualassemblies. For example, the comparing operation may be used to findparticular optimizations provided by individual assemblies. A particularoptimization may be, for example, formulated in terms of meeting sometarget value or values of an objective function. The target objectivefunctions may be changed for different iterations. Therefore, oneindividual assembly may be deemed to be optimal at one iteration but maynot be considered optimal at another iteration before or after thatiteration.

In some embodiments, the method 1300 includes simulating an evolution ofthe initial assembly by performing multiple iterations in which a firstiteration uses the initial assembly as a starting assembly. Thesimulation may be performed by causing the starting assembly to evolveby having each dataset in the starting assembly to (1) interact withother datasets in the starting assembly using corresponding algorithmicrelationships; or (2) change values of at least some datasets using arandomization technique, culling, at an end of an n^(th) iteration,assemblies in the colony that failed to meet a target objective functionfor the n^(th) iteration and replacing, selectively based on finality ofthe multiple iterations, the starting assembly to include remainingdatasets and algorithmic relationships after the culling.

With respect to the methods 1200 and 1300, For example, an initialassembly may be formed based on a template provided by an operator of adata analysis system and by reading entries of one or more databases.The databases may have similar data (e.g., databases of two medical orfinancial institutions) or may include dissimilar data (e.g., medicaldatabase and financial database). The initial assembly may be formedbased on a set of rules that are specified by an operator.

With respect to the methods 1200 and 1300, the simulation of theevolution may be performed in an iterative manner. In some embodiments,various datasets and assemblies may be iteratively evolved in anon-synchronous manner. For example, one assembly may iterate K numberof times over a period while another assembly iterates L number of timesduring the same period, with K and L being different integers.

With respect to the methods 1200 and 1300, the datasets in assembliesmay interact with each other using algorithmic relationship based onmeeting a compatibility criterion. For example, a first dataset maycheck a certain property of a second dataset and then use the seconddataset for its evolution only if the second dataset is found to becompatible. Various compatibility criteria may be used in differentembodiments, in different iterations or by different datasets. Acompatibility criteria rule may be pre-specified for the simulation ofthe evolution or may be specified and evolve during the simulation.Alternatively, the compatibility criteria may be defined as anotherentity or assembly in the simulation and may have its own life duringthe simulation. Some examples of compatibility criteria include-a numberof iterations that the second dataset has undergone. For example, adataset that has undergone a number of iterations or evolutions greaterthan a threshold may be de-emphasized or used with a reduced probabilityfor evolution of the first dataset (e.g., because it represents pasthappenings). Alternatively, in some embodiments, a dataset that hasundergone fewer evolutions may be used more often or with a higherweight. Such a compatibility rule may be used for speeding upconvergence of the iterations by conforming to older iterations.

With respect to the methods 1200 and 1300, the culling operation mayinclude comparing individual entries of an assembly with a template andremoving assemblies that deviate from the template. Alternative, or inaddition, a function that uses some (or all) entries of the assembly maybe evaluated. A check may be performed on the value of the functionbeing within a certain range, and if not, then the corresponding datasetor assemblies may be removed from further consideration during theevolution. For example, the function may evaluate “energy” of theassembly (e.g., magnitudes) or “vitality” of the assembly (e.g., howmany other assemblies were modified due to this assembly, or how manyother assemblies have caused changes to this assembly), or “uniqueness”of the assembly (e.g., is this assembly similar to at least N otherassemblies, where N is a threshold), and so on. The function maytherefore cause an outlier to be eliminated (or alternatively promoted,if mutations of data are desired). The function may, for example, bedefined to eliminate insignificant assemblies or assemblies that are notin a family. Alternatively, a function may be designed to reduce chancesof conglomeration of similar looking datasets. Thus, selection of whichfunctions to use for culling may be effectively used to steer theevolution in a desired direction of convergence. In some embodiments,the functions may be pre-defined by a user of the data analysis system.In some embodiments, rules may be defined for evolving the functionsthemselves during the simulation. For example, if the number ofiterations goes beyond a threshold and convergence is still notobtained, the culling function may be altered to facilitate fasterconvergence.

The methods 1200 and 1300 may also provide snapshots of ongoingevolution to a user to allow a user to monitor and/or control evolutionand data analysis. For example, the datasets that meet an optimalitycriterion may be provided as a response to a query. The query may be anexplicit query received at a user interface of the simulation system.Alternatively, or in addition, the query may be implicit, e.g., based onpassage of time or based on occurrence of a specific event (e.g., a newassembly or a new colony is created).

In some embodiments, the evolution of the initial assembly may becontinuously provided to a user interface. FIGS. 4 to 11 provide variousexamples of visualization techniques used to provide information aboutevolution of assemblies, colonies, amalgams and environments.

In some embodiments, the above described techniques, including methods1200 and 1300, may be a simulation system that is implemented on one ormore hardware platforms, e.g., as described with respect to FIG. 3 .

In some embodiments, the above-described techniques may be embodied inthe form of processor-executable code and stored on a program mediumthat can be read by a computer for implementing the data analysismethods described herein.

From the above description, it will be clear for one of skill in the artthat novel techniques for analyzing complex data sets and discoveringrelationships among them are disclosed. The disclosed techniques may beexecuted on a single computer platform, or a group of computingplatforms such as a network or a cloud computing platform, or beimplemented on a platform, transferred to another platform andre-introduced back on the original platform.

It will further be appreciated that, in some embodiments, the dataanalysis may mimic evolution of life forms, both in terms of the rulesof analysis and also for displaying the intermediate results. Theamalgam, for example, may represent a high level collection of multipleassemblies that may represent lowest level life forms (e.g., single celllife). The visual depiction of evolution of data analysis provides anintuitive was by which a human user is able to keep track ofintermediate results of the analysis and control the flow of analysis.

It will further be appreciated by one of skill in the art that thetechniques disclosed in the present document may be used to analyzecomplex datasets to discover or formulate relationships among variousdatasets. The analysis is performed iteratively such that variousdataset relationships are formulated, evaluated and propagated ordiscarded based on certain objective functions.

Implementations of the subject matter and the functional operationsdescribed in this patent document and attached appendices can beimplemented using data processing units that include various systems,digital electronic circuitry, or in computer software, firmware, orhardware, including the structures, modules and components disclosed inthis specification and their structural equivalents, or in combinationsof one or more of them. Implementations of the subject matter pertainingto data processing described in this specification can be implemented asone or more computer program products, i.e., one or more modules ofcomputer program instructions encoded on a tangible and non-transitorycomputer readable medium for execution by, or to control the operationof, data processing apparatus. The computer readable medium can be amachine-readable storage device, a machine-readable storage substrate, amemory device, a composition of matter effecting a machine-readablepropagated signal, or a combination of one or more of them. The term“data processing unit”, “data processing module”, or “data processingapparatus”, or the like, encompasses all apparatus, devices, andmachines for processing data, including by way of example a programmableprocessor, a computer, or multiple processors or computers. Theapparatus can include, in addition to hardware, code that creates anexecution environment for the computer program in question, e.g., codethat constitutes processor firmware, a protocol stack, a databasemanagement system, an operating system, or a combination of one or moreof them.

A computer program (also known as a program, software, softwareapplication, script, or code) can be written in any form of programminglanguage, including compiled or interpreted languages, and it can bedeployed in any form, including as a stand-alone program or as a module,component, subroutine, or other unit suitable for use in a computingenvironment. A computer program does not necessarily correspond to afile in a file system. A program can be stored in a portion of a filethat holds other programs or data (e.g., one or more scripts stored in amarkup language document), in a single file dedicated to the program inquestion, or in multiple coordinated files (e.g., files that store oneor more modules, sub programs, or portions of code). A computer programcan be deployed to be executed on one computer or on multiple computersthat are located at one site or distributed across multiple sites andinterconnected by a communication network.

The processes and logic flows described in this specification can beperformed by one or more programmable processors executing one or morecomputer programs to perform functions by operating on input data andgenerating output. The processes and logic flows can also be performedby, and apparatus can also be implemented as, special purpose logiccircuitry, e.g., an FPGA (field programmable gate array) or an ASIC(application specific integrated circuit).

Processors suitable for the execution of a computer program include, byway of example, both general and special purpose microprocessors, andany one or more processors of any kind of digital computer. Generally, aprocessor will receive instructions and data from a read only memory ora random access memory or both. The essential elements of a computer area processor for performing instructions and one or more memory devicesfor storing instructions and data. Generally, a computer will alsoinclude, or be operatively coupled to receive data from or transfer datato, or both, one or more mass storage devices for storing data, e.g.,magnetic, magneto optical disks, or optical disks. However, a computerneed not have such devices. Computer readable media suitable for storingcomputer program instructions and data include all forms of nonvolatilememory, media and memory devices, including by way of examplesemiconductor memory devices, e.g., EPROM, EEPROM, and flash memorydevices. The processor and the memory can be supplemented by, orincorporated in, special purpose logic circuitry.

It is intended that the specification, together with the drawings, beconsidered exemplary only, where exemplary means an example. As usedherein, the singular forms “a”, “an” and “the” are intended to includethe plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicatesotherwise. Additionally, the use of “or” is intended to include“and/or”, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise.

While this patent document and attached appendices contain manyspecifics, these should not be construed as limitations on the scope ofany invention or of what may be claimed, but rather as descriptions offeatures that may be specific to particular embodiments of particularinventions. Certain features that are described in this patent documentand attached appendices in the context of separate embodiments can alsobe implemented in combination in a single embodiment. Conversely,various features that are described in the context of a singleembodiment can also be implemented in multiple embodiments separately orin any suitable subcombination. Moreover, although features may bedescribed above as acting in certain combinations and even initiallyclaimed as such, one or more features from a claimed combination can insome cases be excised from the combination, and the claimed combinationmay be directed to a subcombination or variation of a subcombination.

Similarly, while operations are depicted in the drawings in a particularorder, this should not be understood as requiring that such operationsbe performed in the particular order shown or in sequential order, orthat all illustrated operations be performed, to achieve desirableresults. Moreover, the separation of various system components in theembodiments described in this patent document and attached appendicesshould not be understood as requiring such separation in allembodiments.

Only a few implementations and examples are described and otherimplementations, enhancements and variations can be made based on whatis described and illustrated in this patent document and attachedappendices.

1-14. (canceled)
 15. A data visualization method, comprising: forming amulti-level visual depiction of datasets and algorithmic relationshipsby instantiating as a colony of assemblies, each assembly beingrepresented as a lifeform in the colony, that have a range in variationsof their dataset and algorithmic conditions; simulating an evolution ofthe colony of assemblies such that, during the evolution, the assembliesare allowed to undergo formation, reproduction, detachment and mutation;comparing, during the evolution, individual assemblies in the colonyagainst each other and with at least one contextual condition to findoptimizations provided by the individual assemblies; and updating thevisual depiction to depict a progress of the evolution of the colony ofassemblies.
 16. The method of claim 15, wherein each lifeform of thelifeforms is represented by a format that comprises a dataset, inputsthat are used as functions that change behavior of the each lifeform andoutputs that change a characteristic of the each lifeform.
 17. Themethod of claim 15, wherein the simulation of the evolution of thecolony comprises multiple iterations in which the colony is evolvedbased on interaction among the datasets of the lifeforms that result inchanges in values of at least some datasets.
 18. The method of claim 16,wherein the mutation of a particular assembly comprises random changesto a dataset or algorithmic relationships of the particular assembly.19. The method of claim 16, wherein the reproduction of a particularassembly comprises inheriting features from parent assemblies of theparticular assembly.
 20. The method of claim 15, further comprising,culling, during the simulation, certain assemblies that fail to meet atarget objective function, and eliminating culled assemblies from thevisual depiction.
 21. The method of claim 20, wherein a different targetobjective function is used for at least some iterations of thesimulation.
 22. The method of claim 21, wherein the target objectivefunction includes an energy function or a uniqueness function.
 23. Themethod of claim 15, wherein the multi-level visual depiction isorganized in a 3D space, wherein evolution of each assembly isrepresented by a size, a position and a velocity thereof, and wherein arelationship between a first assembly and a second assembly that is aneighbor of the first assembly is visually depicted by a rotationalchange to the first assembly caused by a rotational change to the secondassembly.
 24. A computing system comprising one or more processorsconfigured to implement a method, comprising: forming a multi-levelvisual depiction of datasets and algorithmic relationships byinstantiating as a colony of assemblies, each assembly being representedas a lifeform in the colony, that have a range in variations of theirdataset and algorithmic conditions; simulating an evolution of thecolony of assemblies such that, during the evolution, the assemblies areallowed to undergo formation, reproduction, detachment and mutation;comparing, during the evolution, individual assemblies in the colonyagainst each other and with at least one contextual condition to findoptimizations provided by the individual assemblies; and updating thevisual depiction to depict a progress of the evolution of the colony ofassemblies.
 25. The computing system of claim 24, wherein each lifeformof the lifeforms is represented by a format that comprises a dataset,inputs that are used as functions that change behavior of the eachlifeform and outputs that change a characteristic of the each lifeform.26. The computing system of claim 24, wherein the simulation of theevolution of the colony comprises multiple iterations in which thecolony is evolved based on interaction among the datasets of thelifeforms that result in changes in values of at least some datasets.27. The computing system of claim 25, wherein the mutation of aparticular assembly comprises random changes to a dataset or algorithmicrelationships of the particular assembly.
 28. The computing system ofclaim 25, wherein the reproduction of a particular assembly comprisesinheriting features from parent assemblies of the particular assembly.29. The computing system of claim 24, wherein the one or more processorsare further configured to perform culling, during the simulation,certain assemblies that fail to meet a target objective function, andeliminating culled assemblies from the visual depiction.
 30. Thecomputing system of claim 29, wherein a different target objectivefunction is used for at least some iterations of the simulation.
 31. Thecomputing system of claim 30, wherein the target objective functionincludes an energy function or a uniqueness function.
 32. The computingsystem of claim 24, wherein the multi-level visual depiction isorganized in a 3D space, wherein evolution of each assembly isrepresented by a size, a position and a velocity thereof, and wherein arelationship between a first assembly and a second assembly that is aneighbor of the first assembly is visually depicted by a rotationalchange to the first assembly caused by a rotational change to the secondassembly.
 33. A computer readable medium having code stored thereon, thecode, when executed by a processor, causing the processor to implement amethod, comprising: forming a multi-level visual depiction of datasetsand algorithmic relationships by instantiating as a colony ofassemblies, each assembly being represented as a lifeform in the colony,that have a range in variations of their dataset and algorithmicconditions; simulating an evolution of the colony of assemblies suchthat, during the evolution, the assemblies are allowed to undergoformation, reproduction, detachment and mutation; comparing, during theevolution, individual assemblies in the colony against each other andwith at least one contextual condition to find optimizations provided bythe individual assemblies; and updating the visual depiction to depict aprogress of the evolution of the colony of assemblies.
 34. The computerreadable medium of claim 33, wherein each lifeform of the lifeforms isrepresented by a format that comprises a dataset, inputs that are usedas functions that change behavior of the each lifeform and outputs thatchange a characteristic of the each lifeform.